Yesterday I tried again.The recipe said grate the potato, salt it, let it drip through a sieve into a bowl for a while then squeeze as much moisture out as possible.Add the seasoning - in this case ground fenugreek, mustard seeds and dried chilli flakes.

Heat a 6-inch pan, add oil, tip the potato mixture in and press it down to form a cake.Flip it over after 5 mins and cook the other side.

Watching some of the TV programs where it was made I think the trick is to get it as dry as possible and have the oil in the pan very hot. Mind you, I'm not all that keen on it and much prefer to slice potatoes very thinly ad have those instead.

I have always made them with raw potatoes grated on a 4mm blade (processor) then wrung out in a sea towel before seasoning and frying. Don't do it very oftenWhike I've always been happy with the resukt, I do understand what Felicity Cloake means when she says the texture of tge centre can feel a bit raw even when thoroughly cooked.I'd definitely try making them with cooked, but I think they'd certainly need to be waxy or even if carefully undercooked they might crumble when grated

Mine end up very different every time - sometimes good, sometimes not, sometimes too crisp, sometimes raw in the middle.But NEVER perect! Sod the goose fat, though. I´m not running round the park to catch one of those long-necked things. Will parrot fat do? Plenty of them about

It's worth looking at hash brown recipes too. I'm sure that proper hash brown in the USA is what we might call rosti. I think it is quite important to wash the potatoes to remove excess starch - an example here - https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/22052 ... sh-browns/. I seem to remember being taught originally to do that when making chips too so it may make a difference - and copious water removal at the end of course!

I like the use of clarified butter in that but I notice the hash browns are stirred to prevent them formin a cake like rosti (or frozen hash browns), I was surprised when I saw a breakfast cook in San Francisco using a scraper to make sure they stayed loose and browned all through

My rosti is made according to the lesson I had from my Swiss neighour, at least 30 years ago. It works everytime IF you have the right potatoes. I find here that Agatha are the only ones which get anywhere near. Raw potatoes coarsely grated into a tea towel and wrung out tightly, seasoned then dropped into the appropriate sized frying pan with a knob of butter and a splash of oil - she used olive.

Cook over a moderate heat for longer than you think, until when you lift up a corner and it is golden. Then place a plate, slightly smaller in size than the pan over the potato and invert the pan. Slide the cake back into the pan and cook again until the underneath is also golden.